Jolt (2021)

Streaming Services: Amazon Prime Video
Movie Name/Year: Jolt (2021)
Genre: Action, Comedy
Length: 91 minutes
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: Busted Shark Productions, Campbell Grobman Films, Eclectic Pictures, Jolt Productions, Millennium Films, Nu Boyana Film Studios, Golden Village Pictures, Kinepolis Film Distribution, Purple Plan, Amazon Prime Video, Blue Swan Entertainment, Eagle Films, Film & TV House, GEM Entertainment, Joy n Cinema, Leonine Distribution, VVS Films
Director: Tanya Wexler
Writer:  Scott Wascha
Actors: Kate Beckinsale, Jai Courtney, Stanley Tucci, Bobby Cannavale, Laverne Cox, Constantine Gregory, Ori Pfeffer, David Bradley, Susan Sarandon
 
Blurb from IMDb: A bouncer with a slightly murderous anger-management problem that she controls with the help of an electrode-lined vest she uses to shock herself back to normalcy whenever she gets homicidal. After the first guy she's ever fallen for is murdered, she goes on a revenge-fueled rampage to find the killer while the cops pursue her as their chief suspect.

Selina’s Point of View:
Jolt was not terrible. It had its issues, though.
 
A lot of the good seen in Jolt can be attributed to the actors. Kate Beckinsale (The Widow, Absolutely Anything, Farming) knows how to kick ass and make it look good. Jai Courtney (Honest Thief, Semper Fi, Buffaloed), Stanley Tucci (Worth, The Hunger Games, The Fifth Estate), Laverne Cox (Promising Young Woman, Bad Hair, Charlie’s Angels), Bobby Cannavale (Superintelligence, Thunder Force, Motherless Brooklyn)… they all did phenomenal in their parts. They were tough, sleezy, rigid – and whatever else they were meant to be. I had no complaints with any performance.
 
The direction was pretty solid, too. I’m not overly familiar with Tanya Wexler’s (Hysteria, Buffaloed, Ball in the House) work, but she took some risks with her directing – most of which paid off.
 
There was one glaring issue, though.
 
It’s hard to hide bad writing.
 

There were some interesting one-liners, I’ll give it that. The comedic parts were pretty spot on. Nothing else, though. Any time there was an explanation of something, it was forced down the audience’s throat. Even in the beginning, there’s some narration that just feel weird and unnecessary.
 
Up until Beckinsale finally came on screen, it felt like they were trying to go for a Sucker Punch (2011) feel.
 
On top of that awkwardness, there were some serious issues with the plot.
 
The idea was intriguing. Absolutely. Unfortunately, the writer decided to exhibit the interesting aspects of their story by using the road most traveled. There’s a problem when I can, with 100% accuracy, predict the ending by 5 minutes in.
 
I have to acknowledge that this is Scott Wascha’s first full-length feature film credit as a writer. He’s new and he made mistakes. It’s possible that he hasn’t entirely found his voice yet. When he does, I do hope he goes in a direction where a penis isn’t the answer to every problem the main character has ever had. Could have done without that.
 
My final thought is that Jolt did have its good aspects. I could see this being a guilty pleasure flick for many. I give it 5 years before people forget it exists, though.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 34%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 56%
Metascore – 45/100
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 5.3/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3/5
 
P.S. Short scene mid-credits.
 
Movie Trailer: